Just Another Meatless Monday -- Fruit Salsa

I love adding fruit for a touch of natural sweetness to salads and other dishes. The idea for this salsa came from a Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives show that featured a Jamaican woman's restaurant. She combined mangoes and red and yellow bell peppers, plus hot pepper, to make a salsa. But the recipe wasn't on the Food Network website. So I played around with the ingredients that I remembered.

The first batch I made, last week, was far too hot -- I used a half of a habanero pepper. I tasted the pepper first and it was hot, but I didn't think the heat would overwhelm everything else the way it did. This time, I only used about one eighth of a habanero, and I ended up adding some Sriracha sauce to increase the heat. I'd rather have to increase the heat than wish I'd used less hot pepper. Also, I had purchased the mangoes that day, and they were not fully ripe. In fact, they were pretty sour, so I didn't add any lime juice at all. I ate that batch over brown basmati rice and black beans, and it was good, but not what I had planned in my mind.

So I tried again today. I purchased the mangoes several days in advance and let them ripen on the kitchen counter. They were juicy and sweet this time. Here's a good video on how to slice and dice a mango, if you've never done it.

I'm still playing around with this recipe, and I look forward to trying different combinations of fruits and vegetables to make salsas. I tried to create a balance of sweet, sour, and hot, and added some fish sauce for umami. Herbs -- maybe mint or cilantro -- would be good, too. I ate this over some chili vegetable stew (made from the vegetable stew template from a few weeks ago) for lunch today. Here's what I did:

2 ripe mangoes, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced

juice of 1 lime
juice of 1/2 orange
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1/8 habanero pepper
a good amount of grated ginger root
a good squeeze of Sriracha hot sauce

I put the first 3 ingredients in a bowl. I buzzed the rest of the ingredients (except the Sriracha) in the blender. For some reason, the habanero did not puree, so I fished it out and cut it into little pieces. After tasting the sauce, I added a good squeeze of Sriracha for added heat and flavor, then poured the liquid over the diced mangoes and peppers. That's it! Put it in the fridge and let the flavors mingle, then serve over rice, beans, veggies -- whatever -- for added sweetness and heat.

Stripes

I wouldn't say I have a thing for stripes, but it can't be a coincidence that three of my (fairly) mindless knitting projects have been striped, done in fine-gauge lace weight yarn.

The first one I did was a Baktus scarf done in purple and yellow Misti Alpaca lace weight yarn. I bought a bunch of skeins of closeout colors from Webs several years ago when I was in a lace knitting phase. The Baktus took me a long time to knit, but it was a great mindless knitting project, and lightweight and portable, so I took it many places with me. The finished project is a shallow, symmetrical garter stitch triangle with long tails, great to wrap and tie around my neck. The finished knit fabric is soft and squishy, and drapes well.

The second one I did was the French Nautical Scarf. I bought Manos del Uruguay lace from Webs specifically for this project, as I fell in love with the red and white French nautical color scheme. This had to take me at least two years to knit, off and on. I started in a burst of enthusiasm, and I loved watching the subtle color changes of the red yarn. But gradually I knit on it less and less, until I pulled it out during Lent this year, hoping to get it done for Easter. Each pair of red and white stripes took me about 90 minutes to knit, and I tried to knit at least a pair of stripes per day. But I didn't get it done, so I set it aside and finally picked it up again and pushed myself to finish it this summer. Cooler weather is coming, and I think I will finally wear it this winter. It is a very wide "scarf" (about 20 inches) -- really more of a stole or wrap. The color changes in the red stripe make it more interesting, and the alpaca and silk yarn with a touch of cashmere makes a drape-able stockinette fabric with a fairly heavy hand for a lace weight yarn.

Which brings me to my current "fairly mindless" knitting project: a Hitchhiker (by Martina Behm) done in more of that Misti Alpaca lace from Webs. This time, the colors are a deep pink and an orange that are so close in value, you can barely see the one-garter-ridge per color stripe. Hitchhiker is written for fingering weight yarn, and I've knit one at that weight and love it. The pattern creates a long, shallow triangle with a one serrated edge, which is easy to wrap around the neck. I started this one night this week, and have a long, long way to go, but this has an eight-row pattern repeat that is easy to memorize, so it makes good TV and waiting room knitting. I'll measure it against my fingering weight Hitchhiker to know when I am "done" knitting.

The pattern links will take you to Ravelry, which is a great social media site for knitters and crocheters. It was started by a knitter and her techie husband, so they really know what features knitters want and need, and the community on Ravelry is generally well-behaved and generous (like most knitters I know). I also created a link to Webs, which is a dangerous site to visit late at night. They have lots and lots of yarns at very good, discountable prices.

Just Another Meatless Monday -- Morning Smoothie

Depending on how you look at it, I am either getting into a routine or into a rut.

This week, I have been making versions of my vegetable stew template, salads, and this smoothie for breakfast.

This smoothie is not the prettiest looking drink, but it contains lots of nutrients. Most smoothie recipes I've seen have a milky base of some sort, but I wanted a non-caloric base with flavor. So I gravitated towards teas. Sometimes decaf green tea. Other times herbal tea. Usually I end up with a blend of decaf green tea plus pure mint tea. I brew up a pitcher at a time, which lasts for days.

I use 12 to 16 ounces of cold tea for the smoothie base. To this, I add a half of a banana and a half cup of frozen blueberries. Then I add one tablespoon of flax seed, ground. I use a coffee grinder to grind the flax seed; the nutrients in the flax seed are more available to the body in the ground form, and grinding it myself means that the nutrients don't have time to dissipate. I also add 2 teaspoons of chia seed that I've soaked in the fridge overnight in 6 tablespoons of water. The seeds create a gel that helps to thicken the smoothie, and they are as nutritious as the flax seed. Finally, I add several handfuls of greens. These vary. Lately I've been using a pre-packaged mix of baby spinach, baby bok choi, and baby red and green chard. I also like a mixture of arugula and baby spinach, or kale, or unusual greens from the farmer's market, such as sorrel or lovage. Each type of green has a different flavor. In a pinch, I use the spring mix of baby greens that I use for my chopped salads.

I buzz all this in the blender until it is smooth. It's an easy breakfast that I have enjoyed all summer, but now that it is turning cool, I am beginning to think of warmer alternatives for the winter months.

What I'm Reading: Whole

The title of this book -- Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition, by T. Colin Campbell, PhD, with Howard Jacobson, PhD -- leapt out at me on the new book shelves at my local library.

Although this book has some interesting insights, it was not quite the book that I was hoping to read when I plucked it from the shelf. It is a follow-up to The China Study, which the authors refer to many times. This book explains how Dr. Campbell came to believe that nutritional science was headed in the wrong direction, and why, based on his experiences during his long career doing research and serving on various panels.

He spends the largest part of the book explaining why his "wholistic" view is a better avenue to health than the reductionist view that is prevalent in research. He uses the old story about six blind men describing an elephant. Each describe it differently, depending on whether he felt the leg, tusk, trunk, tail, ear, or belly. Similarly, modern nutritional science is focused on individual elements in food, rather than the whole of the orange, apple, or other type of food. Not only are there more components in food than we know, but they work together for good or ill. For example, he discusses work by a colleague focusing on vitamin C in apples, which found that 100 grams of fresh apple had the antioxidant, vitamin C like activity equivalent to 1,500 milligrams of vitamin C, yet only contained 5.7 milligrams of actual vitamin C. Dr. Campbell's demolition of the reductionist approach  to nutrition is very similar to Michael Pollan's criticism of what he called "nutritionism" in In Defense of Food.

Based on his experiences, Dr. Campbell discusses how the reductionist approach affects (for the worse) nutrition, research, medicine, and social policy.

Based on his research, Dr. Campbell has adopted, and advocates, a diet very similar to that advocated by Dr. Fuhrman in Eat to Live.

While there are some interesting studies discussed in this book, I was already familiar with the view that the whole (of an apple or any foodstuff) is greater than the sum of its parts, as well as the "follow the money" aspects of research. So I found this an interesting book, but one that did not plow as much new ground for me as I would have hoped when I picked it up. It did, however, reinforce what I've read in Eat to Live and In Defense of Food.

I've gotten The China Study out of the library, and I look forward to reading that next, as I would like to know more about the study that led Dr. Campbell to advocate what he calls a whole food, plant based way of eating. He prefers this term to either vegan or vegetarian, as he notes that most vegetarians still consume dairy, eggs, too much oil, refined carbohydrates, and processed food, and vegans still consume added fat, refined carbohydrates, salt, and processed food. Of course, the negative effects of refined carbohydrates and processed foods were discussed in detail in Salt, Sugar, Fat.   

Just Another Meatless Monday -- One-Pot Template

I love one-pot meals. This is one I have cooked several times since we returned from our trip last week. It makes a lot -- over 10 cups. And it's easy. It combines canned beans and tomatoes with spices and frozen vegetables. It started with a recipe for chili from Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live -- but I like spicy food and the original recipe was toned down to a lowest-common-denominator level of spiciness. It also can be spiced different ways for infinite possibilities for meals.

Here's the basic template.

Start with a large pot. As I said, this makes a large quantity.

The first layer is 2 cans of diced tomatoes with a small can of tomato sauce. All the cans in this recipe are the regular size -- about 15 ounces -- and the small can is about 8 ounces. You can play around here with the different types of tomatoes. Some have Italian spices. Others have Mexican flavors. Or you can just use plain ol' tomatoes and sauce.

The second layer is the spices. I'll get to that in a minute.

The third layer is 3 or 4 cans of beans, rinsed well. I use 3 or 4 different cans of beans, but you can use all the same kind or half-and-half. Really, whatever you feel like. I've used black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, black-eyed peas, white beans, just to name a few.

The fourth and last layer are the frozen vegetables. Include one 8 to 10 ounce bag of chopped onion (or onion with garlic) plus 3 or 4 other kinds. After the onions, you are aiming for about 3 cups of each vegetable, but just add as much as you want, particularly if you don't want a partial bag or box of veggies left over. I've used corn, chopped broccoli, lima beans, summer squash, cauliflower, etc. I haven't used greens yet, but why not?

Heat up the pot until the bottom (wet) layer is bubbling, then turn the heat down to medium-low. Turn it lower still when things really get going. It'll take a while -- maybe as long as 30 to 45 minutes -- for the frozen top layer to thaw, but once it does and everything is bubbling, you can turn it to very low and let it simmer. Simmer for at least an hour -- I simmer this for 2 or 3 hours until everything is well melded together. The vegetables release their juices to add to the liquid and you end up with a nice vegetable stew mixture.

Now, as for the spices, the two versions I've tried so far have been chili and curry.

For the chili, I use 3 tablespoons of chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 2 teaspoons of ground cumin. I also add 3 of those small cans of mild chopped green chilis. A little oregano would be a nice addition, too, and I plan to try that next time I make the chili version.

For the curry, I use 3 tablespoons of curry powder, plus about a teaspoon each of extra turmeric, ground cumin, and ground coriander. I think a couple of tablespoons of grated or finely chopped ginger (if you have a piece of ginger root in your fridge) would be a good addition and I plan to try that next time I make the curry version. I also think cumin seed, rather than ground cumin, would be an interesting addition.

Other possible spice variations I want to try are Italian (dried basil and oregano with extra garlic and maybe some dried red pepper flakes) and Herbes de Provence.

If you have fresh veggies on hand that you want to use up, there's no reason not to chop them up and throw them in -- with or instead of the frozen ones. Likewise, if you have beans that you've cooked yourself, there's no reason not to use them. In fact, I plan to cook up different batches of beans and keep them in the freezer for just such uses.

I like this dish so much that I've taken to keeping the fixings for it on hand -- the cans of diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and beans, and boxes and bags of the frozen vegetables, so I can throw this together when I don't feel like going to the store and want a hot meal.

As the weather gets cooler, have fun playing around with this template for a filling one-pot meal and make it just the way you like it.

College (Un)bound

We just came back from visiting about 50 colleges in the Midwest (Ohio, Michigan, and a little bit in Indiana) over a 12-day period, and U.S. News issued their 2014 college rankings this week, so this seems like a good time to mention a book I read just before our trip.

Jeffrey J. Selingo, the author of this book, is the Editor at Large of the Chronicle of Higher Education. He knows a lot about the issues in higher education today, and he covers them in this slim volume. His chapters on “How We Got Here” discuss the credentials race, including college marketing and rankings; “the customer is always right,” including colleges as businesses, grade inflation, and resort-like colleges; and “the trillion-dollar problem,” including high tuition, education loans, and unemployment after obtaining that expensive degree. The second section of the book – “The Disruption” – discusses “the five disruptive forces that will change higher education forever,” which are (1) “a sea of red ink” for these institutions, (2) reduced public funding for higher education; (3) declining numbers of students who can pay the sticker price for their education; (4) improved alternatives to traditional colleges; and (5) the growing gap between the cost of higher education and its value, both real and perceived. Part III, which is supposed to cover “the future,” is a continuation of the discussion of the current problems in and alternatives to higher education as it exists today.

In the end, Selingo doesn’t really have a crystal ball and can’t tell us what the future of higher education in this county will be. He does, however, know what the current issues and trends are, and he does a very good job of explaining it all. He also provides a chapter containing a list of “forward-thinking universities to keep an eye on,” and a chapter listing things for the prospective student (and parents of prospective students) to consider when choosing a college.

If you are the parent of a prospective student or are otherwise interested in higher education in the United States, this book will give you a good overview of the subject. If you already know what a discount rate, MOOC, and yield are, this book may seem a little superficial to you, but it will flesh out what you know.

Meals on the Road

Eating a whole food, plant based diet on the road is not easy. It takes some planning and sometimes a bit of luck.

For breakfast, we planned to eat fruit. This was easy. We brought some fruit with us in the car, and bought more at grocery stores along the way – apples, bananas, oranges, plums. Even though we mostly stayed at hotels that provided a “complimentary” breakfast, the fruit offerings were often sad – a few bananas, which were often overripe. The occasional bowl of cut-up fruit in the morning was a welcome diversion. But mainly, we ate the fruit we brought with us.

Since we were visiting a lot of colleges, we planned to eat lunch in a college cafeteria when possible, thinking that most college cafeterias would have a salad bar and perhaps some vegetarian or vegan hot dishes as well. Sad to say, we were optimistic about college cafeterias. We did find some very good ones that offered an abundant salad bar and vegetarian or vegan hot dishes such as brown rice, beans, veggies, etc. But in some cafeterias, by the time we omitted the meat, cheese, and mayo-laden choices from the salad bar, we were left with meager choices. And these same cafeterias were the ones that featured pizza, burgers, etc. as hot meals. But we managed pretty well at most colleges. The ones that had hummus on their salad bar saved us more than once.

For dinner, we thought we would be able to get salads from a salad bar at a grocery store, as most stores in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington DC have salad bars. Not so at the stores we visited in Ohio and Michigan. We did bring bowls, canned chickpeas, and other items along on the trip, so we were able to make salads from basic produce that we purchased in grocery stores – lettuce, cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, etc. It worked out pretty well, with fruit for dessert. But dinners were not as easy as we thought they would be. Whole Foods in Cleveland, Ohio; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Carmel, Indiana, helped a lot, but they were very expensive. The food, though, was very good and a welcome change from some of the paltry offerings at other stores. We were also pleasantly surprised to be able to get cooked brown rice from a steam-table Chinese food restaurant near our hotel in Washington, Pennsylvania.

Although we planned to eat mostly our regular whole food, plant based diet, travel to me also involves sampling local foods.

 

One place I wanted to try was Melt Bar and Grilled in Cleveland, Ohio. This place had been featured on several Food Network shows, and had received very good reviews on on-line sites. The reviews raved about the sandwiches, but said they were too big to finish in one sitting, and mentioned mounds of French fries that accompanied the sandwiches. I scoped out the menu on line in advance, and planned to have the half grilled cheese sandwich accompanied by a cup of soup and a salad, thus avoiding the too-big stuffed sandwiches and mount of French fries. I had the grilled cheese with cheddar, the tomato soup topped with more cheddar, and a salad with feta cheese and the house dressing on the side. I was glad I chose this, but, honestly, the thick slabs of white bread in the sandwich overwhelmed the cheese.

After one bite, I said I could make a better grilled cheese sandwich at home. (And I can – try buttered grilled rye bread with cheddar or swiss cheese, good mustard, and slices of bread and butter pickle.) Still, the sandwich was pleasant enough, the soup was tasty, and the salad was nice enough. At least I wasn’t overstuffed with one of the specialty sandwich Melt offers. But I can’t say that I’d cross the street to have the plain grilled sandwich, soup, and salad again either.

After eating at Melt for lunch, we spent the night in Elyria, Ohio, on the other side of Cleveland. I’d seen a recommendation on line – by celebrity chef Michael Symon, no less – for the Hillbilly Hotdog at the Midway OhBoy in Elyria, so we went there for dinner. I had just the hotdog, but it was worth it. The white hotdog bun did not hold up to all the moisture, so I had to eat with a knife and fork, but the combination of the savory hot dog topped with real chili with meat and beans and creamy cole slaw was a delight.

 

Another place I really wanted to try was Jerusalem Garden in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This is a tiny place, but I had good falafel, baba ganoush, and hummus with pita.

My favorite meal was the Hillbilly hotdog. Some of the meals in college cafeterias were good, too. And the Whole Foods Market prepared foods were tasty and filling. But the trip really opened my eyes to how much differently I am eating now. On the last full day of the trip, we ate at the cafeteria at Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, PA. The salad bar pickings were slim, and there were no hot vegetarian options, other than lima beans. I caved and made myself a sandwich (I liked the pickles the best) and had pancakes and bacon. I found the crisp bacon too salty and fatty to really enjoy. What a change from just a few months ago, when I would have loved bacon with anything!